Rise and Fall
by Kymeara
Summary: August 23rd, 2542. The super soldier project, known as Project Freelancer, is launched, and sent several light years away to deal with a rapidly growing Insurrection. However, the Project will soon gain some very dark secrets of it's own. If you want to get to the real story, go straight to Chapter four...
1. Necssity

**Hey guys (and girls), Kymeara here, completely revamping and changing the idea and story behind my attempted RvB Fanfic, Rise and Fall. Now then, this will be heavily OC'd, with at least 40 OC Agents. This will also be slightly distant from the main storyline, with a few things changed that I didn't like about the original RvB storyline and the original Rise and Fall storyline. I hope you enjoy...**

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><p>Rise and Fall.<br>Chapter 1: Necessity

Leonard Church stood upon a metal gangway overlooking a giant construction site. Beside him stood the man who had only been introduced as 'The Counselor'. Ah well, Church thought, I suppose all of our names a going to be forgotten soon enough. In just a couple of years, he himself would no longer be known as Dr. Leonard Church, a high member of the UNSC. Soon he'd be the Director, leader of the experimental Project Freelancer. Despite being one of the many science projects being created to fight the ever growing threat of the Covenant, ONI and the UNSC had made a decision to send him and his team several light years away to deal with a growing rebel force. Looking at the data pads being presented to him by several engineers. Without a doubt, his new toy would be ready within three years, and launch ready within four. By then, he would have his agents ready. By then, he could avenge her.  
>The Director started walking towards the small hut that acted as a command centre, The Counselor following him. Funny almost, that the man already seemed like an obedient puppy.<br>"Sir, I have reviewed all the files you presented me with, and I have selected ten, just like you asked for." The Counselor said, shoving another data pad at The Director.  
>"Very good Counselor," The Director said, in his thick southern accent, "Please inform the chosen of their new jobs."<p>

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><p><strong>Two Years Later<strong>

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><p>The Falcon touched down lightly on the landing pad of the club. The Errera was Maria's favourite place to just relax. However, she was soon to be staying permanently at the site where her new home was being built. Heck, she thought, might as well make a night of it.<br>"Hey, Maria? I'm afraid you only have until midnight here. Directors orders." The pilot yelled as she jumped out of the cockpit, and instantly yelling at the crew scuttling over the craft, setting up refueling pipes. Maria just looked over her shoulder and smirked at the pilot, before walking towards the doors. She could hear the music pumping before she was within arms length of the doors, and was nearly deafened by the blast of sound when the doors did open. As she stood on the top balcony, she looked down to the bar, and spotted a point of interest.

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><p>Jake sat at the bar, subconsciously flicking his personal lighter on and off. His mates, his fellow marines had left to chase the girls who were sat at another corner, leaving him by himself. Great mates they were! Jake didn't even notice a red-haired girl walk up to him, that was until she took the lighter straight from his hands.<br>"Hey, what are you doi..." Jake started, but was silenced by the girl putting one of her fingers over his mouth.  
>"Well, by the looks of it, I'm stealing your lighter. However, Sergeant Jake Marshal, what I'm really doing is asking you to follow me." The girl was still smirking. Now that Jake looked at her, she did look rather nice.<br>"Wait, how did you know my..."  
>"Name, and rank? There's a lot I know about you. Jake Marshal, born October 15th, 2514, on an Outer Colony. Your parents were killed by a Covenant attack. You became a street thief, becoming a skilled lock pick and pick pocket. When you heard the UNSC Marines were recruiting, you signed up. You joined the marines at the age of 18, where you proceeded to enhance your lock pick skills. You began favouring shotguns as your weapon during your time."<br>"Ok then. How do you know this about me?" Jake was starting to wonder if he'd done something wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his mates taking glances at the redhead, and were starting to get up.  
>"We have your personal files. We've been reviewing them, and we've decided that we'd like you to join Project Freelancer."<br>"Project what now?" Seriously, this girl was changing subjects quicker than a game show. Out the corner of his eye, he noticed one of his fellow marines reach out to grab the redhead's arm.  
>"Project Freelancer. It's a new experimental project designed to..." The girl was cut short as one of the marines grabbed her arm and spun her around, smirking at her. "I suggest you get your hands off me. Now!"<br>"Aw, c'mon baby, don't even want a little fun?" The marine slurred out, clearly drunk beyond his limits.

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><p>Maria looked down at the man who had her arm in a tight grip. As he looked back up at her, he grinned before pulling her closer and trying to kiss her. That did it for her! She slammed her head forward into the man's nose, and watched as he stumbled back holding his face, blood dripping from his hands. His mates all stood back, and started to glare at her. Jake had half stood up from his stool, unsure what to do. "I think you'll find that you won't touch me again, Corporal Barton, or I will get you kicked out of the Marines before you could say sorry. Jake, if you'd follow me?" With that, she walked back towards the stairs. From the sounds of the footsteps behind her, she could tell that her new friend was following her. Just as she got to the top of the stairs, she made sure that all the marines were watching, and pulled Jake to her and kissed him. She had to admit, screw professionality, she liked this guy. She pulled away from him, and looked down at the marines below, all of whom looked stunned at what they just saw. Maria looked at Jake and winked at him before walking out the doors back to where the Falcon was still waiting. Jake just shrugged at his friends then walked off with her.<p>

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><p>The Director looked at the data pad for what must've been the hundredth time. He wanted to make sure that everything in his Project was perfect. He looked at the ten names on the screen. All of them had agreed to join the Project, and were all being shipped to his location. However, their real names could not stay, he named new names, code-names for the Agents. He slowly selected each Agent, and, with an idea forming in his head, he named his agents. Looking down at the first nine, The Director finally felt satisfied:<p>

1) Jake Antony Marshal - Agent New York.  
>2) Constance 'Connie' Selena Moore - Agent Connecticut.<br>3) Connor Jimmy Barrett - Agent Delaware.  
>4) Reginald Johnston - Agent Wyoming.<br>5) Michael Fredrick Sinclair - Agent Georgia.  
>6) Nathan William Adams - Agent Alaska.<br>7) Name Unknown - Agent Maine.  
>8) Zoey Kate Mills - Agent Illinois.<br>9) Madilyn 'Maddie' Dawn Morrison - Agent New Jersey.

It was, however, the last name that caused him concern. Whilst she certainly was an adept fighter. But, he couldn't lose her. No, The Director thought, it was her choice. All he could do was make sure that she was safe. He put the data pad down, and sighed.

10) Maria Caroline Church - Agent Carolina.

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><p><strong>Hello again. Hope you enjoyed this opening to Rise and Fall. Now then, this will be slightly inspired by the Phase One: Genesis and Phase Two: Betrayal fanfics by The Freelancer Collaboration. Id you aren't already reading that, THEN WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING READING THIS JUNK, GO READ THEM! NOW! Anyway, they're really good...<strong>

**Thanks for reading guys. Kymeara out!**


	2. Meeting

**Hey guys, Kymeara here with the second 'Prequel' chapter of Rise and Fall. Another two or three of these, before we skip ahead a year or two, to 2542, when we'll finally get to the good stuff. Anyway, a chapter from the points of view of Connie, Maddie and Maria.**

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><p>Rise and Fall Chapter 2: Meeting<p>

Connie felt the sudden change in gravity as re-entry stopped, and she saw the green light flash to show her that she was allowed to remove her harness. She'd been in the back of the Pelican for about five Earth hours, and she was started to get very fed up with the sight of grey metal and the small amount of Space that was visible from the Pelican. She had tried to communicate with the pilot during the flight, but he just closed the doors to the cockpit. This had left Connie on her own with nothing to do. For five fucking hours. She was going to leave a complaint to The Director the moment she landed "You'd best get ready to get the hell of my ship," The pilot said over the comms, "Cause I'm sure as hell not waiting any longer than a minute."  
>Connie grabbed her bag and walked to the back of the ship, flipping off the pilot through the wall. Just a minute later she felt a small bump, and the ramp opened. Connie had barely stepped off the ramp before it lifted back up and the pilot took off. Connie looked around, and saw a group of eight people standing by a metal hut. She guessed these were her new teammates, her fellow Freelancers. As she walked up to them, a black haired girl turned around to face her.<p>

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><p>Maddie looked over and the new arrival. She seemed quite short, and had her brown hair nearly fully shaven, except for a small part in front of the right ear. The girl walked right up to her, and introduced herself.<br>"Hello, I'm Connie." The girl said the moment she stopped in front of the her.  
>"I'm Maddie. This is Zoey," Maddie said, pointing to the girl on her left, who had shoulder length brown hair, with pink and white highlights swept to the side, "and this is Nathan." This time she pointed to the boy on her right.<br>"It's nice to meet you, Connie." The boy, Nathan said, shaking her hand. Zoey looked like she was about to say something when she was interrupted by the arrival of a Falcon. There was another man and woman inside, who both jumped out once the Falcon had landed. However, unlike the Warthog Maddie arrived in, or the Pelican that dropped off Connie, the engines cut off and the pilot got out, and quickly started yelling at the workers scuttling around the Falcon. The woman who had jumped out just looked at the pilot and shook her head whilst smirking, before heading toward the group, the man she had arrived with following her. Just as the new girl joined the group, a voice over the tannoy called them into the hut.

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><p>The hut they had all gotten into turned out to be a lift, to the surprise of everyone but Maria. She had been down this left several times in the last two years, meeting with her... with The Director. The lift stopped after a minute, and the group walked out into a temporary armoury. Behind a bench a little way into the room, stood The Director and The Counselor. "Hello Agents. Welcome to Reach, and to the current HQ of Project Freelancer. In a years time, your new home will be ready. Until then, we shall be training here. Firstly, you will be given armour, and you shall be able to select your weapons that you will be using. Any questions?" Once he was satisfied none of the Agents were going to speak, he nodded to the Counselor, who pulled up a data pad. "Jake Marshal?" Was the first name The Counselor called out. The man Maria had arrived with stepped forwards. "From now on, Jake Marshal doesn't exist. You are now Agent New York."<br>"Agent New York, huh?" The man said, "Bit long winded isn't it? Just call me Agent York." With that he stood to the side, waiting for the rest of them. The Director nodded at the Counselor, as if to grant York's wish.  
>"Constance Moore?"<br>"It's Connie, sir" The girl snarled as she stepped forward.  
>"Not anymore, Connie. From now on, you shall be known as Agent Connecticut."<br>"Huh. Connecticut. I can still shorten that down to Connie." Connie also went to stand by York.  
>"Connor Barrett?" A decently tall man with a shaven head walked forward. "From now on, you are Agent Delaware."<br>"Thank you, sir" Delaware said quickly whilst nodding once at The Director, before standing aside.  
>"Reginald Johnston?" A man with the most ridiculous moustache ever walked forward. "You will be Agent Wyoming."<br>"Thank you very much chaps." Wyoming said in a British accent. Surely that's put on, thought Maria.  
>"Michael Sinclair? From now on, you shall be know as Agent Georgia"<br>"Nathan Adams? From now on, you are Agent Alaska."  
>"Zoey Mills? From now on, you are Agent Illinois."<br>"Madilyn Morrison? From now on, you are Agent New Jersey."  
>"Please," New Jersey said, "Lets just shorten that to Jersey."<br>"Maria Church?" Maria heard some whispers and gasps when they heard her name. Clearly they had all made the connection between the two 'Church's in the room. "You shall be Agent Carolina." Carolina went to stand by York, and intertwined her fingers with his, him giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.  
>"And that leaves Agent Maine." An incredibly tall man, with a very scarred face stepped forward and growled. "Yep, I thought so." The Counselor said with a slight smile.<p>

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><p><strong>Hope you at least enjoyed a part of this chapter. Not my best work, but ah well. Anyway, make sure you are waiting for the next chapter.<strong>


	3. Armour

**Hello again. This is the last 'prequel', or set up chapter to Rise and Fall. After this, the action, and training starts. We'll also finally meet the brains behind Charon. But, for now, enjoy! :)**

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><p>Rise and Fall.<br>Chapter 3: Armour

The new Agents followed The Director and The Counselor into the next room, where there was another bench, with several helmets placed on them. The two stopped behind the bench, whilst the Agents stood to attention at the door. Once again The Director looked down at the data pad, and started calling out the names. "Agent York?" York stood forward, wanting to look back, but not daring to look away from the Director's piercing green eyes, the eyes which were so similar to Mari... Carolina's. The Director picked up a standard Mark VI Helmet, which was tan with white trimmings. He handed the Helmet to York, before waving York to a side room, with a:  
>"Go in there, where you'll have your full armour fitted."<p>

York walked into the next room, a small corridor with ten cubicles. One of the two at the front, on the left hand side, had a glowing sign with the name 'York' above it. York walked through the door, and found several technicians preparing his armour pieces. York handed his helmet to one of the personnel who approached him, and then allowed the personnel and technicians to zip him up into the under armour, and then attach all the different armour pieces to him. The armour on his forearms and thighs had the same white trimming as his helmet. York spent the next five minutes getting the feel for his new armour, and hoping the squeaking of the new under armour would stop soon. York walked out of the door at the back of the room, and found his new team mates waiting for him.

York was the last of the group to walk into the room. He immediately looked at the others in their armour:  
>Carolina was leaning against the wall next to the door. She was in an aqua Rouge helmet, with Recon shoulder plates and chest plate. Her forearms and thighs also had white trimming on. Wyoming was stood on the other side of the room, in all white Mark VI armour. Maine seemed even taller in his armour, if that was possible. He didn't have any shoulder pads, and he had a white Mark VI chestplate. The odd thing about him was the fishbowl of the EVA helmet, which just made him seem even more creepy. His armour had orange trimming. Connie was in a brown EOD helmet and chestplate, with Scout shoulder pads. She also had white trimming. Georgia was in green Mark VI, with a CQB helmet. He had pink trimming. Delaware was in maroon Mark VI armour, with blue trimmings.<br>Alaska was in a black Mark VI chestplate, and a black ODST helmet. He lacked shoulder pads. He had teal trimming.  
>Illinois was in pale pink Mark VI armour, with a brown material hood that hung on her back. She had white trimming, but her shin armour was also white.<br>Jersey had orange Mark VI armour, with silver trimming.

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><p><strong>The Next Day<strong>

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><p>The group had been allowed the rest of the day off, but now they were waiting in the armoury to select their personal weapons. Whilst they would have to change weapons sometimes depending on the missions, these would be the ones they train with, and fight with normally. They would all be called in one by one to choose their weapons, then they'd be isolated in weapons training for a year, so they can really grow to their weapons, whilst still interacting with their fellow Freelancers. York went in first:<p>

As soon as York walked into the armoury, he noticed the many benches that aligned the room. On the left hand side were all the human UNSC weapons. Guns and melee weapons. On the right was a collection of alien weapons, all manor of plasma based guns and melee weapons. York noticed The Director and The Counselor, who were watching York intently. York went straight to the UNSC weapons, and picked up a holstered Magnum and attached it to his his right thigh. He then walked down the line and didn't even hesitate to take one of the shotguns and hook it to his back. He announced that he was done, and he was then led through one of the ten doors at the back of the room.

Connie walked in, and didn't even glance at the Covenant weapons, before heading straight to the Magnums. She took two of them and attached them to his thighs, before walking to the knifes. She took two normal combat knifes and stuck them to her back, before pulling another, serrated knife, from the rack and taking that she announced she was done, and left.

Delaware has entered, and taken his sweet time looking around at the Covenant weapons, before finally deciding that he didn't want anything from the aliens. He finally picked a DMR, a Battle Rifle and a silenced Magnum.

Wyoming was the quickest yet so far. He grabbed a Magnum without glancing at it, but then snatched up a Sniper Rifle, where he spent another five minutes checking the scope, pod, barrel and ammo clip. Once he was satisfied with the Sniper Rifle, he walked out.

Georgia had spent a while looking over the Covenant weapons, choosing to pick up several plasma grenades. He then walked over to the UNSC weapons, and stocked up on normal frag grenades too, before picking up a Rocket Launcher, shouldering it and walking away.

Alaska had immediately picked up an SMG, before walking over to the Covenant weapons, taking two Spike Grenades, a Needler and a Storm Rifle.

Maine hadn't even acknowledged the existence of the men in the room, choosing to two Magnums and leaving the room.

Illinois walked in, and spent about half an hour trying to find a blade that "felt right" for her. In the end she settled for a pair of Energy Swords, and a Needler.

Jersey had decided to talk to the guards in the room for about five minutes, before The Director coughed, bringing her attention back to the weapons. After picking up a single Plasma Rifle, she went an took a Shotgun and a Sniper Rifle.

Carolina was very decisive. She was the first to actually grab a speciality weapon, in the for of a Grappling Hook. She took a pair of Magnums, aswell as a pair of Plasma Rifles, and a Gravity Hammer. Finally, she took a small purple-black tinted stick, which was her favourite defensive weapon, in the for of a Humbler Stun Device.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed. From me, Alaska and the rest of Batch 1, see you next time!<strong>


	4. MoI

**Hello guys, Kymeara here. Just wanna quickly say, as I'm rushing home, that these will get more frequent (shh, but I'm doing these at sixth form) but that's just my devotion to you. enjoy!**

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><p>Rise and Fall.<p>

Chapter 4: MoI

War raged across the solar system. 25.6 light-years away from the planet humans had originally called home, a human colony had settled on planets and moons around a star which to this day had not been named. The primarily inhabited planet was known as Hope, and had nearly been entirely covered in a giant city, save for the oceans and some greenery amongst the city landscapes. The planet closest to the star was known as Genesis, and was a desolate desert planet, with large desert plains and mountains, and deep ravines and gorges. Around Genesis was an asteroid band so thick that it looked solid.

Between Genesis and Hope there were the orbits of two other planets. The second planet was also a desert planet, but actually contained water on it. Known as Zanzibar, it was the sole provider of oil and fuel for the entire solar system. The next planet along was a very thick jungle planet, known as Mistral, that was nearly constantly raining. So much so, that other than a few specs of green, the entire surface looked a deep grey from the outside.

After Hope came a planet known as Valhalla. Before the humans had colonised the planet, there had been signs of alien structures that seemed related to power. However, due to the beauty of the mountains and greens, the planet had been mostly untouched, with only a few settlements. Then there was a Gas giant called Cleo. It was a mostly useless planet, other than the small amount of rock hidden inside the poisonous gas, which contained the most valuable metals and minerals in the solar system.

The final two planets were both ice planets. The first was called Fall, and was a constantly changing planet. Whilst there were always large sheets of ice amongst the oceans, the changing of what scientists had guessed as the planets seasons meant that the ice kept melting and freezing over again. This was found out when a small town had suddenly found the ice beneath their settlement melting. The last planet was known as Sidewinder, and was a large mountainous snow planet, with a deep series of tunnels and caves which had been dubbed as the 'Rat's Nest' by the people who inhabited them.

Donovan once again looked down at the 'report' his second in command had given him on the status of the war. From what he could see, his forces had taken a city on Hope for themselves, and were now busy defending it from a neighbouring city. His forces were completely dominating the war for control of oil forces on Fall, aswell as some other facilities that were present. He was also happy to note that his mining squads were still hidden amongst the clouds of Cleo, and had not been found. However, he sighed as he looked at the other part of the report. The rest of Hope was still refusing to give way, and the UNSC still had full control over Zanzibar and Valhalla. Aswell as this, he had heard that there were new facilities being built on Genesis, Zanzibar, Valhalla, Sidewinder and inside Rat's Nest.

Donovan had built this insurrection from a couple of rouge UNSC soldiers and some people in his village. Now, it had turned into the strongest rebel force in the galaxy, with other insurrections abandoning their planet in order to come to fight this war. He had illegal arms dealers both in and out of the UNSC, and had even acquired a battle ship. He was determined to remove the UNSC from this solar system, and maybe even from the galaxy. This whole thing had started twenty years ago:

_Donovan was fleeing away from the sound of growling aliens, dragging his brother and little sister behind him. Just a few minutes earlier, he had watched his door get blown down with a green explosion, before a tiny alien no bigger than his 9 year old sister ran in, holding a yellow arched gun, which had little green tubes slotted into it. As the alien took aim, he heard a loud bang as his father stepped into the room, before the man told his wife to take the kids and run. However, as Donovan looked to his mother, he noticed a glowing blue point sticking out her chest. The woman fell, and Donovan saw a taller alien, with four jaws, that was wearing deep red armour, with a small dagger attached to his arm. The alien ran at Donovan, before his 18 year old brother jumped from the stairs, landing on the aliens back, grabbing a small purple pistol from it's hip, before he got thrown into a wall. As the alien walked towards him, his brother shot the alien ten times in the head rapidly, before gasping and throwing the smoking pistol away, a vivid red burn appearing on his bare hands. Before he could gather his senses, his brother and picked up his sister and was dragging Donovan out the house. The last thing Donovan saw of his father was a luminous purple shard lodging itself between his eyes._

_Now he was running for his life, still too shocked for tears to fall. He could barely hear the sounds of the aliens' weapons firing, or the screams, or the explosions, as if he was under water. He just saw a giant alien in dark blue armour, with several spikes on it's back, before it exploded with the sound of a tank's canon fire. Ahead of him he could see Marines in their green and sand coloured armour, but he could also see the bullets flying. He was pushed to the group by his brother, but looked up in time to see his brother get hit in the back by several light blue blobs, and fall to the ground with several burns on his back. Donovan also looked to the left of him, to see his sister facing away from him, blood slowly dribbling down her back. She was blasted towards him as a green explosion erupted near her feet._

That had been when he was twelve years old, and had believed it when a UNSC official told him that the Covenant had killed all his family. It wasn't until he was 22 that he got a letter from the coroner, who had felt guilty about something. He had sent Donovan the actual death certificates of his family. True enough, his father had taken a shot from a Needle Rifle to the head, courtesy of a Jackal, and his mother had been assassinated by an Elite with an Energy Dagger. It was also true that his brother received severe burns from a Plasma Rifle, and that his sister and been critically hurt by a Carbine, and a Fuel Rod Canon. However, there were two new updates on his brother's and sister's death records. On his brother's, there was the inclusion, with picture, of a single Magnum bullet that was found in his lung, and on his sister's, it showed that she had taken five bullets in the back from a stray SMG, which had destroyed her spine, severed an artery and had hit her heart.

It was then that Donovan realised that his siblings hadn't been killed by the Covenant, that the UNSC marines had done, and then covered their tracks. It was then that he had rallied the people from his old village, and the coroner. Turns out, the UNSC had killed a dew of their own, and had also silenced the few people who had known this had happened. From here, his insurrection was born. Then rebelled against the soldiers who had been in there village at the time, stealing their guns and armour, Donovan himself take the steel and maroon armour of an ODST who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Adopting the logo of a clenched fist, he had started the war which was still going to this day.

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><p>The Director stood in the bridge of his ship, the Mother of Invention. The ship had been in orbit around Reach for a week or so now, so he and his crew were starting to get used to sight of space. The Counselor walked up behind him, his usual hand held computer with him as always.<p>

"You wanted to see me, Director?"

"Yes Counselor. Do you have the training stats for me?"

"Yes sir. Carolina is exceling in both hand-to-hand and in single handed fire arms training. Wyoming has gotten the highest score possible in all sniper related exercises. Illinois has slowly started to master her swords, and general CQC. All other agents are preforming ordinarily, but they are barely above average."

"Don't worry, Counselor, they will improve. Please could you inform the Agents that they must all be at the training room in one hour?"

"Of course sir. Would there be anything else?"

"Yes Counselor, do you still have the other files for the Agents who you didn't choose?"

"Yes sir. Why do you ask?"

"Because I would like you to arrange for them to be transported here immediately. They shall be our Batch 2."

"But sir. There was a reason I didn…" The Counselor immediately began to protest, but the Director just waved him away.

"My decision is final. Please inform them."

"Very well then sir. Is that all?"

"For now Counselor. Thank you."


	5. Maze

**Hello everyone, Kymeara back. Due to the response I got, Rise and Fall shall continue while Team BECN is on hiatus.  
>Anyway, onto this chapter, which is finally our first ten Agents getting into some action, even if it is only training.<strong>

**I'd like to specifically thank WargishBoromirFan, or just Ward, for supporting and guiding me ascent of my story.  
>With that out the way, let's get to this!<strong>

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><p>Rise and Fall.<p>

Chapter 5: Maze.

The Agents were all stood in a viewing room above a large, circular training room. Inside the room, a cluster of concrete pillars had risen from the ground, no doubt in preparation for some training exercise of some kind. York, who was stood loyally next to Carolina, their fingers intertwined, leaned back against the wall casually as The Director walked in.

"Good morning, Agents. As you can see, the floor is prepared for a simulation test."

"For the last year, your weapons training has been in isolation," The Counselor added, walking in from the other side of the room. "For the first time today, you shall see how each of your team mates fights. This is a vital step in the project, as most of the time you will all be fighting together. You have had your time to hone your skills to the best they can be, and now is the time to prove yourself."

"Agent York, you take the floor first. You'll know when the test begins."

York walked into the large room, with his Shotgun attached to his back, and his Magnum in hand. He could barely see the other side of the room, due to the swarm of pillars. He noticed a rack of ammo next to him, but was surprised to notice that they were all live rounds, not the lockdown paint his was used to seeing. York took all the ammo supplied, and then walked out into the 'combat safe' zone, where he would start.

Meanwhile, The Director punched in a command to a key pad, and then hit a button that was revealed. From a set of pods on the opposite side of the arena to York, several combat droids were revealed. There were ten all together, with only nine having weapons. The last was going hand to hand.

York saw the robots rise, and watched them all raise their weapons. York quickly ducked behind a pillar, ready to fight. However, that very same pillar began to descend to the ground, so York ran forward, immediately encountering one of the assault rifle droids, and blasting it in the face with the Shotgun, wires and sparks showering the floor. York barely had time to register the sight of a robot with an SMG before small pink rounds were shot at him. York spun to the side before taking the robots head off with his Magnum. He also allowed himself a sigh of relief due to the fact that the robots were using Lockdown paint, not live ammo.

York rolled out from his cover, blasting two more robots in the chest as he stood up again, before throwing his Magnum at another robot and blasting it's gun arm off. He quickly retrieved his Pistol and shot the robot in the head. He then felt a searing pain his leg, and looked down to see pink paint solidifying around his knee. York ducked again as a sniper shot sounded, splattering the ground below him. York fell to the floor, his leg frozen in place. He'd never been hit by the paint before, and he never wanted to get hit by it again. The second one with an assault rifle rounded the corner and got a shotgun blast in the side for it's troubles. York managed to stand up, and turned around and shot another with his magnum. However, his heart skipped when he felt a barrel press against the back of his neck.

"Herk ble-ag!" was all he managed to say as the sniper blasted pink around his head.

"Well done York," The Counselor instantly greeting the soldier as he came back into the observation room. "You managed to kill seven robots out of ten; two after you had been 'hit' yourself. You have been marked out of 30. One third is for the kills, the second for your tactics, and the third, which you scored perfect on, is accuracy. Your total, Agent York, is a respectable 22."

York looked up at a blank screen, which suddenly lit up, with a single tile visible. This tile had the number 1, the name York, a symbol of a lock, and the score of 22.

"Welcome to the leader board, Agent York." The Director added.

* * *

><p>It was Connie's turn on the training floor. With her knives, she felt like the most confident person in the world. However, she did worry as she knew that York was one of the best soldiers out of all of them, and even he had struggled against just ten super high-tech killer robot machines. Connie ran into the maze of pillars, both Magnums in her hands.<p>

_She hated her goddamn helmet aswell. Instead of a full visor like everyone else got with their helmets, she had to get the bloody EOD helmet, with it's stupid goggles. Sure, they help people who are working with explosives, but Connie was far from an 'explosive' type. They should've given this bloody helmet to Georgia, he seems to love exploding things enough, nearly tore his bloody arm off last week with that grenade he snuck from the armoury and..._

Whilst Connie had been ranting to herself inside her head, the hand to hand robot had snuck around the corner. Connie quickly snapped out of her rant and ducked into the robots stomach, before planting one of her knives into it's 'eye'. Connie rolled forward, and pulled her pistols back out. She saw another two robots up an aisle, and shot at them. Whilst she did hit them, she couldn't aim with two pistols, and several of her bullets hit the surrounding pillars, causing chunks of them to fall off, and dust to shower the dead robots.

_Goddamn it, I can barely see in this stupid thing. Way too many damn blind spots. _

As if to highlight her thoughts, another robot managed to sneak up next to her, and tried to put his pistol to her head. Connie grabbed the pistol arm and flipped over the robot, bending it's arm back. Whilst on a human, this move would have just dislocated their arm, she managed to fully rip the robot's arm out of it's socket. Connie used it's own pistol top fire into the base of it's neck, but was horrified to see that these robots weren't susceptible to lockdown paint. She instead finished it off with her own. Connie then tore her helmet off, and threw it at another robot she saw, and then ducked as she heard sniper fire, seeing the smoke trails flying over her head. She quickly threw her knives at the sniper, knocking it off it's pillar, and turned around to see SMG fire flying at her, striking her chest and face. Damn it hurt on the chest, but she heard herself swear when the rounds hit her bare flesh.

"And that, Agents, is why I expect you to follow protocol at all times. It will not do to have you injured." The Director said, gesturing at Connie, who was now sporting several swollen bruises on her face where the high velocity rounds had hit her. Connie had gotten a score of 13, which was apparently "good, but with a large margin for improvement," as the Counselor had said. Delaware then had to walk down the stairs to what he was sure was his doom. As Delaware left, York was sure he saw Delaware clip a silver cylinder to his hip.

* * *

><p>Delaware clipped the DMR to his back, and held the battle rifle slightly nervously. He heard the pods that held the robots open, and immediately jumped out, releasing several bursts which instantly took out three of the robots, shattering the glass of one of the pods. He jumped over a sniper shot and landed on the head of an unarmed robot. He snapped it's neck, and quickly dragged it back into the maze.<p>

Delaware pulled the 'dead' robot away from the fray, and quickly opened the cylinder from his hip. He poured out the contents, a can of spray paint and a roll of tape, and began delicately painting the robot's body, with his maroon spray paint, using the tape to protect the areas he didn't want painted. After a minute, he removed all tape except on the robot's forearms, thighs and a small portion of it's helmet. Laying there in front of him was now a spitting image of himself in armour. As he admired his work, he opened a panel on his forearm, one of his own 'Custom' armour pieces, and unreeled a load of cable. He then tied this cable around the robot, and threw it over the nearest pillar. He soon heard the familiar sounds of Lockdown Paint guns, and felt the strings vibrate with the impact. He threw a grenade over the wall, before detaching the cables from his arm. He heard the explosion, and walked around the pillar to see four smouldering bodies. However, he was forced to move as the sniper shot out, four shots hitting the ground at his feet. Delaware also ran into the other robot, with an SMG. Delaware blasted it in the 'face' with his silenced Magnum, and then threw that away. He then grabbed his DMR and battle rifle. He walked out to the aisle, where he saw the sniper aiming straight at him. Delaware pressed both triggers as hard as he could, and saw bullets spray at the robot, shredding it's torso. With that, he threw his guns to the ground and walked back to the observation room.

Once in the room, he saw the Counselor actually smiling, and even a smirk beginning to appear on the Director's face.

"Well done Agent. That was an exceptional performance. You actually managed to kill all ten opponents. Counselor, please update the board."

The Counselor pushed a couple of buttons, and York and Connie's names moved down a place each, showing Delaware up at the top with 29 points. At his visible disappointment at not getting the full marks, the Counselor told him about the lack of accuracy on the last kill, marking him down one.

* * *

><p>Wyoming finally put his helmet on, after a minute of standing outside the arena, smoothing his moustache. He grabbed his sniper from the bench next to him and walked out to the room, hearing the pods on the opposite sides spring open. Wyoming grabbed the side of a pillar and vaulted himself onto it. He then pulled the sniper off his back, and took aim towards the other side of the room. He saw a robot walk out of cover, and he heard a re-assuring crack as the sniper shot off, taking the head off the robot. Wyoming then put away the rifle, pulled off his battle rifle, jumping over the pillars to a new spot. Thankfully the robots didn't notice him, and he set up the sniper again, managing to get two shots off on the assault-twins as he had named them, before moving again. However, he was hit in the crotch mid-jump, and was sent tumbling to the ground. Wyoming had dropped his sniper so he grabbed the battle rifle and sent a stream of bullets in the direction his was hit, the bullets only finding a wall. Wyoming desperately looked around him, trying to find his assailants, but he saw nothing around him. Replacing the rifle with a Magnum, Wyoming began to edge backwards, still franticly searching around him. Wyoming managed to get a headshot with his pistol on the unfortunately unarmed robot. Wyoming picked his sniper back up off the floor next to him, and rolled onto his front and took aim. Wyoming managed to hit one more robot before he felt searing pain up his back as his armour locked up.<p>

Wyoming had managed a score of 21, putting him third in the table behind York and Delaware. He had walked out the room after this, not even bothering to watch the rest of the Agents perform.

* * *

><p>Georgia was next, but he had to wait as the normally plain concrete pillars with encased in steel for what was predicted to be his explosive fight. Once he finally was allowed to get going, the room was now shining silver. Georgia ran forward, shooting two rockets towards the end. He heard the explosions, but didn't know whether any robots got hit by the rockets. He then threw a handful of grenades over the pillar he was behind; using the smoke they created by exploding as cover, launching another two missiles to his left. He rolled forwards jumping as he saw a robot in front of him. The robot punched him in face, but he responded with an equally hard punch which shattered the larger Mark IV visor. Georgia thrust a grenade into the gap, and ran as it exploded in the robot's head.<p>

The next thing Georgia did was unexpected. He ran forward, jumping in the air before shooting a rocket at the floor. The explosion launched him higher in the air, where he launched another three rockets down at enemies he saw. Only one of them hit their mark, and the remaining five robots he could see now knew exactly where he was. Georgia was helpless as several lockdown paint rounds hit him from different directions. He fell to the scorched floor with a loud thud.

Georgia had managed 5 kills. His accuracy was terrible, as was to be expected with his use of explosives, only earning him 3. However, the tactics portion was boosted by his impromptu rocket jump. The fact it didn't fully work meant he only got an 8. This left him with a total of 16, being fourth out of five on the leader board so far.

* * *

><p>Alaska was the first on the floor to use 'Covvie' weapons, rather than the human made weapons. He immediately had the storm rifle out, and was looking down the scope on both sides of his pillar. When he was satisfied there were no enemies in the area he moved forward, then quickly swore and ducked as a sniper shot rang out, forcing him back into cover. Alaska slowed his breathing and leaned back around the pillar. He pulled the trigger and saw the bolt of blue plasma energy fire out the barrel and into the chest of the sniper. He then looked towards where the sniper was, and saw one of the robots looking down at it's fallen comrade. Odd, almost, when they were meant to be emotionless robots designed for combat. Alaska fired again, and the second robot fell down. He was then forced to duck again as a DMR round flew over his head, the second hitting his rifle out of his hands. He then pulled out a Needler and his SMG. He aimed at the robot and fired four shots, keeping the gun trained on it. All four needles hit, and then exploded, sending the robot flying back.<p>

Alaska then rounded a corner in 'The Maze', only to have his last two guns punched out his hands. Alaska quickly blocked another blow attempted by the robot, and then he grabbed it's head and smashed it against a wall, repeating this until the robot stopped moving.

Alaska soon found himself surrounded, but not found. The last six robots were closing in, and varying distances. Alaska unhooked one of the Spike Grenades from his back, and got a vivid flashback as he rolled it in his hand:

_Nathan was ducked behind a bin, crying in terror despite him being sixteen. The orphanage he was due to leave in less than a year was burning behind him, the few staff members still alive desperately unleashing small pistol rounds into the horde of Sangheili, Unggoy and Jiralhanae. There had been a small UNSC outpost here once, but the outpost had become the orphanage. The misinformed Covenant had been angry, so had decided to murder the humans here anyway. _

_Nathan watched as a brute loomed over the bin, about to notice him at any moment. A staff member noticed this, and shot the Brute repeatedly until it fell to the ground. This same staff member was then sliced by an energy sword._

_Nathan crept to the dead body of the Brute, poking it to check if it was alive, before snatching two long, spiked sticks from it's back. He had seen these in museums around Reach, the so called 'Spike Grenades'. Nathan decided to test them._

_He got up from his hiding spot and lobbed the grenade at the Elite who had killed the staff member, with it sticking right inside the alien's mouth. The Elite yelled out in terror and anger as it's entire head got blown off, shards flying out in every direction, killing a few nearby Grunts. Another Brute ram straight at Nathan, who took aim and threw the second grenade, hitting the Brute right in it's eye. The explosion knocked Nathan back, and ripped one of his hands off._

His right hand had been robotic since his seventeenth birthday, and he'd only gotten stronger because of it. Now he finally had Spike Grenades in his possession again, but this time, he properly knew how to use them. Alaska jumped out from his cover and kicked the nearest robot in the air. He lodged the grenade into it's chest, and then kicked the robot away. As he turned, he threw the other grenade into the head of a robot that was now in front of him. He heard the two explosions simultaneously explode and turned around to see three dead robots, one with a large hole in it's chest. However, he counted that that was four out of six remaining he had killed.

"Oh, for fu…" Nathan started before getting shot in the head.

For his 8 kills and for how he fought as well as his no missed shots, Alaska has ended with a respectable 25 points.

* * *

><p>Maine was next, silently walking out into the room with only a pair of Magnums. However, he attached them back to his thighs as he stormed into the maze. The first robot He came across he ripped the gun from it's hand, before ripping it's head off. Maine then ran again, coming across another pair. He slammed both their heads together, physically forming the two into each other, before ripping them apart and ripping one of them in half. Maine then took a pistol round to the back.<p>

It was at that moment where the assembled Agents in the viewing room thought that Maine's match was over. How wrong they were.

Maine turned around and ran at the robot, smashing it through a pillar. The other six robots were now surrounding Maine, all firing for his chest. His entire body was soon covered in the pink paint. However Maine didn't stop, running at one robot and grabbing it and throwing it over his shoulder. Maine then turned around and threw a deadly punch at another robot, taking it's head clean off. Maine then took a sniper shot to the shoulder, rendering one of his arms frozen in place. Maine just lunged forward, trying to reach the sniper, a loud snarl escaping him. However, another robot stood in Maine's way, and got literally trampled in the act. It finally took a sniper shot to the head to finally stop Maine's attack.

Maine's was difficult to score, due to his lack of using a gun. He in the end was given 9 for the few kill shots he got with his attacks, and 6 for the kills. He was given a 0 on the tactics, due to the fact that he got surrounded and shot, a situation that would have killed him. He ended up with 15.

* * *

><p>Illinois was another who was confident in their CQC skills. She drew both her energy swords and ran into the maze. She ran between pillars, pausing behind each one to make sure she hadn't been noticed.<p>

She first noticed the back of one of the ten brown combat robots in front of her. Stealthily sneaking up behind the robot, she grabbed it around the neck and plunged one of her swords into it's face, before darting off to the other side of the room, allowing the robot to clatter to the floor. Another two robots ran over to the source of the noise, only to find their fallen comrade. They failed to notice the blue glow inside the face of the dead robot.

Illinois smiled inwardly as she heard her planted plasma grenade go off. She then started to sneak around the maze again, failing to notice that she was being watched herself. She made another two successful assassinations, before the a robot told the sniper to take it's shot. Illinois ducked and threw her sword at the sniper, just as the sniper took another shot. Illinois was knocked back by the shot into a pillar, and a second later her sword lodged itself into the chest of the sniper.

After some debate about whether the last kill counted, which the Director forced it did, Illinois came out with a score of 26.

* * *

><p>Before Jersey's round began, the Counselor pulled the Director off into a side room.<p>

"Sir, I've been watching the behaviour of these robots, and I'm rather concerned. They seem to be expressing near emotion, and in the last test, of the robots seemed to be in a leadership position. They shouldn't be able to think like that."

"You're right, Counselor, they should not. But I feel it could be useful that they do. Do not be concerned, we are training the best. In fact, once this last test is over, I would like you to take any undamaged memory processors from the robots, and put them into the next batch of robots."

"But sir, that would mean they would remember the agents who they were fighting. The deactivated robots could hold grudges."

"As you said, Counselor, they should not feel emotion. Therefore they cannot hold grudges. There is no need for concern."

With that, the Director walked out the room.

Jersey was next onto the floor. After watching the other Agents perform, she was incredibly nervous. She realised as the door locked behind that she had forgotten her sniper rifle, leaving her with just a Plasma Rifle and a Shotgun. She walked slowly into the maze and got knocked over by one of the robots. She fired a single bolt from her Plasma Rifle, which scraped across the neck of the robot, which fell to the floor. She then rolled onto her back and fired a shotgun blast, taking out another two robots. However, that was her all as she then had her face stomped on by another robot, breaking her visor and her nose, aswell as knocking her out.

Jersey's disappointing round only earned her 10 points. Not that she knew, as she was still unconscious in her bunk.

* * *

><p>Finally, after about two hours in the training room, Carolina was the last to head out. She basically strutted out into the maze, pulling the gravity hammer from her back. She ran up the side of a pillar before spring boarding off the top of it, seemed to defy gravity for a few seconds as she launched the hammer down at the robots. Four of them got caught in the blast from the hammer, the others jumping or rolling away from the attack. Carolina landed back down with a roll, pulling out her grappling hook and launching it at a robot's head, and pulling off with a vicious swipe of her hand. She then proceeded to swing the head around, knocking back the other five robots. One of the other robots got a little too close to her, and she blew a hole in it's head with her magnum, before she pulled out her 'Stun stick'. As a distraction, she kicked the head of the earlier robot at another, before she lunged forward and rammed the device into the visor of the robot, yelling in pain as the combined electrical force of both robot and stun device sent her flying backwards into a pillar.<p>

Despite her now slightly blurry vision, Carolina still jumped up and pulled out her Plasma Rifles. She aimed at the three in front of her, but as she shot she only hit one, even though all three were in her aim. She then realised that she couldn't hit all three robots with just two guns. As she stood there and wondered why she was so confused, the other two robots ran up behind her. Carolina focused just in time to block the punch of the first robot and shoot it in the back, before the other shot her in the head with it's Mangum.

* * *

><p>All the Agents, aside from Wyoming and Jersey, were stood in front of the leader board, for a brief moment, all ten were showing, before the bottom two names were cut from the list, only the top eight Agents being shown. The list went:<p>

1. Delaware

2. Carolina

3. Illinois

4. Alaska

5. York

6. Wyoming

7. Georgia

8. Maine

9. Connecticut

10. Jersey

Connecticut stormed out, pushing over an ecstatic Delaware in the process. Carolina and York hugged and congratulated each other, whilst Alaska and Illinois shared and awkward hug. Maine growled and stormed past Carolina, patting her on the back as he passed. Georgia helped up Delaware, before walking out himself.

* * *

><p>About two hours after the training had subsided, Jersey woke up with a jolt. She looked at her little hand held computer she had hooked up to the MoI's mainframe, and looked at the leader board. She saw herself at the bottom, and wasn't surprised at all. In her mind, she was far from the best soldier. In fact she had no idea what either of the two men saw in her. Jersey sat up, and after holding her head for a few seconds, she walked out of her room. She didn't have her armour on, as she was just in a cut top and joggers, but she knew that for what she was going to do, she would need her armour. She went to the locker room, and found that the door was locked. She then knelt down at the door controls and quickly found the override controls. As she activated them, she found curiosity hook at her. Why train now, since now she was inside the system and she could find out anything. After bypassing five different lock firewalls, Jersey managed to open the locker room door. She also quickly set up her own firewall, and silenced the intrusion alarm she had hidden behind what she liked to call a 'smoke screen'. After she got her armour on, she reversed all her steps, re-running the memory of the lock to make it think it was never opened.<p>

She then found her way to the made bridge of the ship, repeating the earlier process with this door. However, there were two guards in this room. The pair stopped to look out of the window, the dominating view of Reach in front of them. It was then that the guards starting speaking.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever wonder why we're here?"

"Yeah man. I mean, every night I find myself thinking, why did I sign up to a random 'super soldier' project that's heading out to war. You know, I keep thinking that every view of Reach could be my last, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, man. But hey, we've got 'the best' protecting us, so I'm sure we'll be fine."

"I hear you man. Not sure if it's true, but I heard a couple of the techies downstairs talking about a guy catching a falling warthog with his bare hands!"

"A warthog? No no no, I think you meant a puma."

"What! No, man, I definitely meant a warthog. You know, the jee. Hwargh!"

He said this last part as Jersey pulled him down from the gangway he was on. His fellow guard turned around and raised his gun. He looked down to the lower floor, and saw his mate casually snoring, but thankfully not dead. He was about to call for help when his radio went to static. After quickly turning it off, he turned around to find a gun barrel pointed at his head.

"Turn. Around. Slowly. Put your gun down and your hands on your head."

The soldier did as she said, before she knocked him out with the pistol. Jersey laid the gun next to him before sneaking to one of the control panels in front of her. She quickly took a spare memory card from her helmet, and slotted it into the computer, before running her first set of hack codes. She soon found that there was something else in the computer that kept thwarting her attempts to break in. Jersey then decided to isolate the firewall inside one of her own, but saw that the 'thing' she trapped was breaking out of it, and her scans predicted it would be free in about two minutes.

Jersey decided to run a scan of all the Agent files until she found her own. Whilst doing so, she found two folders, marked as 'Batch 1' and 'Batch 2'. Curious about the second one, she separated her hacks to two windows, one for each 'Batch'.

As she expected, she found herself marked in the Batch 1 folder. She saved her own file to the memory card, and erased all data that related to that file being opened and saved. She then closed that, and focused on the 'Batch 2'. Inside were another 10 names, all state names like 'Batch 1'. It hit Jersey that they wouldn't be the only Freelancers that were in the project, and new soldiers introduced.

She was so shocked at this revelation that she didn't notice the door open behind her.

"Hello, New Jersey," The Director announced. "We have a lot, to talk about."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile down in Storage Unit 17B13, A group of broken robots were piled randomly around, due to be fixed the next day. From a dark corner of the room, and visor from one of the robots lit up, the robot's arm moving to it's damaged neck. It looked around the room, and it seemed to speak, the visor flashing slightly as it did:<p>

"No me gusta que el Agente de Nueva Jersey. Te juro que la mataré!"

Around the room, other robots activated and nodded. After a minute, close to a thousand robots had nodded, their eerie visors glowing in the suffocating darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>So there you have it guys. A little bit of foreshadowing, and an all too familiar character! See if you can translate that.<strong>

**Until chapter six, I shall see you next time. Kymeara out!**


	6. Relax

**Hey guys, Kymeara back with the next chapter. Now then, I want to know your opinion. I have 'Batch 2' already planned out, but I don't know when to introduce them. Do you want them next chapter, or another chapter in between? Either way, they have to arrive before the MoI leaves Reach for the last time.  
>Now then, this Chapter is me experimenting with the scenes between fighting. Hope you enjoy!<strong>

* * *

><p>Rise and Fall.<p>

Chapter Six: Relax

York had been sitting in the relaxation room that had been provided for the Agents on the MoI. Aswell as several, incredibly comfortable seats, there was also several holo-projectors. There were several music players, aswell as some old fashioned no electronic games. Things such as pool and darts.

York had fallen asleep on one of these seats, and was rudely awoken by a book hitting him in the face. York jolted up and fell on the floor. As he got up, he saw Carolina spin around and drop into the seat he was in, smirking as she did so. York just glared at her as he got up, before pouncing on her and jabbing his fingers just below her ribcage.

Carolina shrieked as she felt the weird spasm hit her when York hit her pressure point. To get him back, she decided to pinch the back of his neck. This made him gasp as he lost all control in his legs and he fell to the floor. York quickly rolled to his back and swiped her legs out from underneath her, making her fall on top of him.

It was minute later when York snapped out of the trance, and kiss, he was in when Wyoming walked into the room, and cleared his throat.

"Good god mate, at least save it for the dorm room."

Wyoming left after this, muttering something about "Idiots". Carolina quickly got off of York, muttering something about a book she left in her room. York got up from the floor and back into his chair, feeling thoroughly confused about what happened.

Delaware soon joined him, and brought out a pack of cards. He also dug out an entire bag full of beer bottle tops, and he explained that he had used them with the soldiers as make-shift chips. York instantly joined him, as a small poker game was dealt out, with Alaska, Illinois and Georgia joining respectively.

After an hour of this game, York had ended up with most of the bottle tops, and was sure he was going to win, before Delaware somehow bested him, tricking all the Agents to going all in, then taking everything himself.

Maine had come in soon after, and had immediately gone to the weights. Not satisfied with just one bar's weights, Maine had stripped the other three of their weights, and added them to his bar. Maine still lifted them with only minor difficulty, before throwing down and walking out again.

"Not much of a talking person, is he?" Georgia piped up, after he had been silent the entire poker game.

"Nah he isn't. I don't even know if he has a voice," Delaware said, "I said hi to him this morning, and he just growled. I mean, who the hell does that. Kinda creepy if you ask me?"

"Hey, don't judge him man," York turned to Delaware, one of his eyebrows raised, "He could be a mute for all we know. If he is, he'll inform us in his own way, in his own time."

The second game had started after this, with Delaware, York and Alaska becoming increasingly competitive. Illinois left about half way through the second game, shaking her head at the boys before walking off to her room, Alaska watching her as he walked away. Georgia was left bust soon after, and he walked off to talk to Connie, who had entered the room before Illinois had left.

* * *

><p>Georgia had a small conversation with Connie, after which she said she needed to train. Georgia was left bored for another 10 minutes whilst he watched Alaska loose the poker game aswell, before he left to find Illinois.<p>

Georgia decided he wanted to 'play' with some grenades, but he needed Jersey to hack him into the armoury. The girl was a master at hacking computers, managing to break and create these 'firewall' things in a matter of seconds.

However, he hadn't seen Jersey since the training match where one of the robots had knocked her out…

_Now there's a thought. Those robots. He wondered from who, where and what they came from, and why did Project Freelancer have them. He wanted to see the very inner workings of them, see if he could improve them and maybe even…_

No, Georgia reminded himself, he can't focus on those. He was worried about Jersey. She couldn't still be out. Georgia decided to go to her room, and make sure she was alright.

When got to her door, he found it left slightly open. He pressed to control panel and the door slid fully open again. Inside he found the computer still on, but her not in the very untidy bed. He looked down at her computer and saw that it was left on the leader board. At the very bottom was Jersey's tile, which was flashing red and black whereas the rest of them were blue. This greatly concerned Georgia.

Georgia got back to his room, where he quickly accessed his own hand-held, and saw the same thing. He then clicked on an icon that was exclusive to his computer.

"Good evening, Agent Georgia, can I be of assistance?"

"Yes, F.I.L.I.S.S, could you please inform me of the whereabouts and status of Agent New Jersey?"

"I am sorry, but the current status of Freelancer Foxtrot-18 is classified…"

"F.I.L.I.S.S! Override order number Foxtrot-Alpha-Golf-Sixteen."

"Classification routines overridden. Agent New Jersey is currently being apprehended on account of being a possible Insurrection spy."

"Insurrection spy? Ok then, thank you F.I. .S."

"Have a nice day, Agent Georgia."

* * *

><p>Alaska had walked back to his room for a moment, only to find how bored he was. Seeing as the only possible recreation was in the one room, there wasn't a lot to do on the ship. Just as he was about to walk out again, he saw Illinois and Connie having a conversation in the corridor.<p>

Alaska would've interrupted, but the last time he did, Illinois pushed him through a doorway.

Alaska wasn't sure about how he felt about all his team mates yet. He, Illinois and Jersey had become quick friends before they'd been stripped of their names, but he wasn't sure. He knew that Jersey was bi, which was completely cool with him, but he didn't know about Illinois. He had spent most of the last year with her, and he had noticed that she was acting different around him. He liked her, but he was worried that Jersey liked her too.

_I'm just being stupid, right. We're 'Super soldiers', not little love bird teens. I need to focus myself._

But other than that, he wasn't sure. York was a cool, laid-back guy. However, Alaska was worried that he was too laid back for a soldier.

Then there was Delaware. Wow that guy was a brilliant fighter, and he seemed to be able to make the most of his environment. However, he seemed to be enjoying his current 'Top of the leader board' status too much, and it was getting to his head.

Then there was Carolina. From what he'd seen of her so far, she was probably better than Delaware, but just seemed unlucky. However, she was a natural leader, once breaking up a small brawl that formed between Jersey and Connie in the canteen.

Ah, Connie. Now she was an interesting one. She was so small and shy, and yet she had a rebellious streak larger than her one streak of hair. She seemed to hate following orders, and Alaska was worried she could put the team in jeopardy.

Then you had Georgia, who was a complete psycho. He had a love for explosives so bad, Alaska was worried he would end up taking the ship down. However, he knew that this information would be invaluable later on in the project. That is, if Georgia is still alive by that time.

Then there was Maine, the silent brute. Alaska hadn't had one meaningful conversation with him. But then again, no-one could get more than three words and a growl out of him. He was bloody strong, Alaska could tell that much, but that was all he got from the man.

And finally, Wyoming. He was the embodiment of the stereotype of the British man. The accent, the moustache, and the endless cups of tea, He seemed to fit the role as a protagonist of one of those old British spy movies. However, Wyoming had been shown so far to only care for himself, not really caring for friends.

Alaska felt they all had something to offer to the project, but they all had issues which they would need to sort. However, Alaska felt sure they would make it.

* * *

><p>Jersey sat with her hands cuffed to the arms of her seat, in a room with just that seat and a table. She had been placed in there around midnight, and that had been around two hours ago. She had been offered a drink by one of the guards once, which she had politely refused.<p>

"Agent Jersey, you need to explain yourself, now!" The Director yelled as he stormed into the room.

"You knocked out two of our soldiers, and hacked into our nearly unbreakable network..."

"Sir please, I just want…"

"I very impressive feat indeed Agent. Despite your test, that was incredible."

"Sir? I thought that I was in trouble?"

"In trouble. At first Agent you were. But then F.I.L.I.S.S. informed me of the real reason why you did it."

"Yes sir. I just wanted to know why I was chosen. I show no real skill as a soldier."

"Well, Agent, all you need to do to know why you are here is look at tonight. None of our Agents can do that.

After that, two new guards came in and un-did her cuffs. As she walked out, she looked at the leader board. He name flashed blue as her points increased from 10 to 14, and she pushed Connie down and moved up to ninth herself.

"Man, Connie is gonna be pissed".

* * *

><p><strong>There you have it guys, Jersey is still alright... for now! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!<br>Anyway, tell me what you think I should do for Batch 2, and I'll see you next time.**


	7. Arrival

**Hello, Kymeara back again with the Freelancers, and introducing Batch 2, including two very familiar characters. Now then, it isn't vital, but at the end of this, I will be asking for some help from you guys. But for now, enjoy!**

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><p>Rise and Fall:<p>

Chapter 7: Arrival.

Charleigh was bored and sick out of her mind. She had always hated flying, and transport in general. Luckily she had her brother, George, helping her as he always did. There was an interesting bunch in the Pelican with them. They had all been given SPARTAN MJOLNIR armour before they got on board, which she found odd seeing as they sure as hell weren't SPARTAN's.

The one she found most annoying was the guy who had introduced himself as California. He hadn't stopped talking since they met out of armour, as he was giving her a headache. She did fell kind of sorry for him though, as he was stuck with two robotic arms, which now also had armour built onto them. He himself was in standard Mark VI armour, with red and black being his colours.

The one he was talking to also seemed to be getting a headache. Wisconsin was unlucky enough to be sat next to California, and was clearly bored out of his mind. He had, however, been rather blunt to Louisiana earlier though, Wisconsin using a few choice words after being disturbed from his sleep, making the poor girl cry. He was in full Mark VI, silver with purple trimmings.

Speak of the devil, Louisiana was sat on California's other side. Whilst she had been shown to be a sensitive girl without her armour, she was different once inside it. Vermont had started on her again after she knocked over a drink, and she had floored him and nearly broken his arm. She now looked bloody creepy aswell, using an experimental LOCUS helmet with her Mark VI armour, making her look like she was wearing an alien skull. The dark green cross on the grey face didn't help either.

Utah was the only one who was standing, watching the world of Reach retreat away from them. He was reasonably short, being just over 5 foot tall. He looked like he was wearing all white armour, but in reality he had silver trimming. Other than his Recon shoulders, he was in Mark VI armour.

The rest of the group hadn't introduced themselves yet, but she knew from the file she read that Ohio was the dude in cobalt and purple Mark VI armour. Nevada was in Scout armour with a Mark VI chestplate, being coloured navy and white. Michigan was also Mark VI other than her CQB shoulders, her armour being green and yellow, and Tennessee was in green and black Mark VI aswell.

Then there was her and her brother, George. No, he wasn't George anymore, he was North Dakota, the purple and green sniping legend (That was what California called him!) and she was South Dakota. As nice as it was to be partnered with her brother, she felt a small pang of something that she wasn't used to, anger, when she found out that she was named the same, and even coloured the same as her brother. Despite this she was proud to be able to fight alongside her brother.

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><p>It was a week after the simulation matches, and now the team had really bonded together. Alaska, Illinois and Jersey had done a training session together, and they formed a great team. Wyoming was still steering clear of all the other agents, and Georgia had been acting oddly cold towards Jersey, who seemed rather hurt by the happening.<p>

At the same time, York and Delaware had formed a strong friendship, much to the chagrin of Carolina. They had all forgotten the board. All but one of them.

Connie was sat in one of the main hangars, which was her favourite place to just get away from everything. From where she was, she could see part of Reach's ocean far, far below her. She had been brought up a couple of books by a pilot when he had been sent on the food errand, so she was more than occupied. However, the leader board was playing on her mind. She felt there was something wrong about it, but she didn't quite know what.

Just as she was about to get up, she looked down again to see a Pelican flying up through the oxygen shield, and landing down. From the back door, a group of ten armoured figures walked out, with the Director and Counselor walking towards them.

"Welcome, Agents, to your new home. You are currently on the Paris-class Frigate called the Mother of Invention. I'm sure you all know each other very well, but allow me to introduce us. I am the Counselor, and this here is the Director"

"Thank you Counselor. Now then, you are what we are calling our second batch. There are another ten Agents on board who do not know that you are here yet. This will change…"

"Right now!" Connie interrupted as she jumped down from her perch.

"Agent Connecticut! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Just relaxing sir." Connie said with a hint arrogance and innocence in her voice.

Ohio decided to speak up first, and stop the quickly rising argument.

"Hello, I'm Agent Double-Ohio!" Ohio said with a joking salute.

"Don't be silly, Ohio," A girl in green armour giggled, before stepping forward a lightly tapping him around the head. "I'm Michigan."

"Hello Ohio, Michigan. I'm Connecticut, but everyone here just calls me Connie."

As she said this, the other Agents walked into the room. Carolina looked at the new recruits with approval. North walked forward to be instantly greeted by York and Delaware, and they were soon chatting away. Ohio had quickly merged into Alaska's group, and Michigan was merrily chatting away with Connie.

Wisconsin had stalked away to a corner, away from the group, but was soon approached by Wyoming, and the two seemed to get along.

Meanwhile, the Director was fuming. Due to Connecticut's actions, his plan to have the two batches compete was ruined. He walked out the room with the Counselor not long behind him.

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><p>During the next three hours, the entirety of batch two was put through the same test against the robots. North and South had been paired together against 20 of the brown robots, and had managed to kill all of them, with South getting 'killed' and North losing control of his left arm. Ohio had managed a decent amount of kills, but the rest were of an average level of skill. The board had changed to accommodate them however.<p>

1) Delaware

2) Carolina

3) Illinois

4) North Dakota

5) Alaska

6) York

7) Wyoming

8) South Dakota

9) Louisiana

10) Ohio

11) California

12) Tennessee

13) Georgia

14) Maine

15) Jersey

16) Michigan

17) Nevada

18) Wisconsin

19) Utah

20) Connecticut

The group had quickly become friends, and the leader board was soon forgotten, even by Connie.

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><p>Meanwhile, the Director and the Counselor stood in the bridge of the ship, looking out into space. The frigate had just turned away from Reach, and was now facing out towards the general direction of the star system they were headed to. There were pilots and technicians running all over the bridge, preparing the slipspace drive the frigate possessed. According to the Counselor's calculations, it would take them five weeks to get to the system, meaning they would arrive there on the 23rd of August. From then, they could finally wage war, and put an end to this vile Insurrection. With that thought, a portal-looking gate opened up in front of the frigate, and it flew forward into possible destruction.<p>

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><p>Donovan just glared at the paper in front of him. He had found out that these facilities that had been built had been filled with idiot "simulation" troopers, posing as red and blue armies respectively. He had been confused as to why, until he had found out about the second of two facilities built on Zanzibar. It was the ground base for a 'Super Soldier' project, known as Project Freelancer. This project had been designed to combat the covenant, but was now being turned against his own forces. This could ruin his entire plan.<p>

However, Donovan also looked at the first successful attempt at cryogenically freezing a person. This was their tenth attempt, the last nine killing the subject instantly or slowly. His employer would be very happy to know that this had now worked.

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><p><strong>So, what help do you need I hear you all asking. (Yeah, I can hear your thoughts) I shall answer this now. I'm having trouble with creating more unique armour enhancements, and I will really benefit your input. The enhancements I already have are:<strong>

**(Canonical Enhancements)  
><strong>Active Camouflage.  
>Adaptive Camouflage.<br>Dome Energy Shield.  
>Enhanced Motion Tracker.<br>Enhanced Healing Unit.  
>Holographic Projector.<br>Temporal Distortion.  
>Overshield.<br>Strength Boost.  
>Speed Boost.<br>Hardlight Shield Projector.  
>Thrust Pack.<br>Enhanced Thrust Pack.  
>EMP.<br>Advanced Bio-Scan.

**(Non-Canonical Enhancements)  
><strong>'Phase' Shift Projector (Ability to move through walls).  
>'Knock-out' Stun Gloves (Ability to pass an Taser shock through a soldier's gloves).<br>Enhanced Hack Display (Helps make a hack easier and more efficient).  
>Magnetic Field Projector (Can create a positive or negative electromagnetic field that can attract or repel metallic items).<br>Dome Healing Unit (Creates a Dome Shield around the user whilst healing them and others around them).  
>Enhanced Thermal Sensors (Can help the user see through walls, and highlight enemy positions or points of interest).<br>Electrical Field Inducer (Creates an electrical pulse around the user that will harm enemies and overload electrical equipment).  
>Enhanced Grapple Unit (An enhanced version of the grapple gun fitted to the forearm of the user).<br>Enhanced Jump Pack (Makes the user perform a "Super-jump" to high areas).

**These are all the ideas I've had, but I need more. If you think of something, please PM me with the idea, or leave the idea in a review.  
>To those who do, thank you in advance. Until the next chapter, Kymeara out!<strong>


End file.
